THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
152 
sary. As the hives can be bought as cheap and 
more accurately made than if made at home, 
why make them ? Moreover, assuming' that the 
bees also can be bought, it is wiser to procure 
full stockhives at once, in which case two birds 
are killed with one stone, so to speak. I may 
here mention that I have supplied more than 
one party with 25, 50, and more hives. In 
Europe the course of supplying a hundred or two 
hundred stocks is often followed, and why not 
here? Two hundred stocks give one person full 
employment and a fair interest on his investment, 
besides his living. As to implements for the 
management of bees, a couple of smokers, knives, 
and scraper for cleaning hives and frames, brushes 
or small brooms for brushing the bees off the 
combs, frameholder, comb boxes, half-a-dozen or 
more swarm boxes, one dozen queen cages, a 
wax extractor or press, a few pounds of comb 
foundation, and for extracting the honey, one 
well-approved pattern of four-framed extractor, 
one small tin dish for uncapping, and a larger 
tin to put the cappings in, a couple of uncapping 
knives, a sufficient number of honey cans, one or 
more large honey tanks with tap at bottom, and 
a bucket, are all the implements required. Comb- 
foundation by the hundredweight and sections or 
mats are not wanted if full stockhives complete 
are purchased, but a number of empty hives 
should be in readiness for swarms, for the frames 
of which a small quantity of foundation for 
starters is needed. A person who intends to 
work two hundred hives will hardly want a veil 
and gloves, well knowing that a cat with spectacles 
and gloves will catch no mice. Whether a barrow 
be wanted or not may depend on circumstances. 
As to the appliances for queen-rearing, suppose 
the sale of queens was not the object aimed at, in 
which case a dozen of queen-rearing hives would 
quite suffice ; but if sale of queens was the object, 
then a larger number of queen hives are required, 
and as a person who undertakes to rear queens 
for sale does not need to be instructed how to 
proceed in this respect, no more need be said, 
while an explicit instruction would be insufficient 
for an amateur ; and I think the number of those 
dabblers who want to sell queens and do not know 
how to rear them does not want strengthening. 
For prices of those goods and further detailed 
fnformation apply to trustworthy and reliable bee- 
masters, who make it their business to supply all 
these good, and bear in mind that the cheapest 
article is not the best. 
It may be as well to refer to the race of bees 
most profitable. In this respect I can state 
without fear of contradiction that the Italian bees, 
although they are higher in price than the black 
bees, deserve the preference. They soon repay 
the extra outlay, and they have the most good 
qualities combined. 
Almost the same appliances for making or 
manipulating one hive are required as for one 
hundred or two, hence the larger the number of 
stocks the less outlay proportionately, and the 
greater the profit. W. Arbram, 
Manager Italian Bee Company. 
Parramatta, N.S.W., 
July 27, 1889. 
(Eitrarts. 
SPRING. 
The Management op Bees in the Spbing. 
Read at the Erie Ou. Farmers' Institute 
BY O. L. HEKSHISER. 
At no season of the year do bees need more 
careful management than during the first warm 
days of spring, and until they can gather honey 
from the fields. Losses are not usually heavy 
during the winter months ; but from the latter 
part of August until fruit trees bloom, the 
fatality is sometimes great. It is not a difficult 
matter to winter bees; but to “ Bpring” them 
successfully often requires much thoughtful 
attention to their needs and condition. 
The first requisite is plenty of food. If this 
matter has not been looked to in the preceding 
autumn, preparatory to wintering, it should be 
on the first warm day of spring. Springs follow- 
ing years of failure of the honey crop, and 
especially failure of fall honey, are usually 
springs of heavy losses from starvation and 
dwindling. If each colony is provided with 
from 25 to 35 pounds of stores in the fall, they 
will in nearly every case have abundance to last 
until the flowers produce honey again. 
A normal colony of bees will consume from 6 
to 12 pounds of food from fall till Spring, and 
from this time till fruit trees bloom about as 
much more. If they consume more than this 
they are not in a normal condition, and are 
liable to perish. The less honey a colony con- 
sumes during the winter, the better will be its 
condition during the spring. 
Feeding Bees in the Spuing. 
If bees are out of food, empty combs in the 
hive should be replaced by combs containing 
honey. If these are not accessible syrup made 
from the best quality of granulated sugar may 
be fed. In feeding, be careful to allow as little 
loss of heat from the hive as possible. A strong 
colony will store several pounds of food a day. 
A bee-feeder is desirable in feeding syrup. 
Some bee-keepers prefer to feed by replacing 
empty combs in the hive by combs containing 
sugar syrup. The combs are filled by laying 
them on a board and pouring the syrup into the 
cells with a dipper. They should be hung in 
the natural position and allowed to drip before 
placing in the hive. Feeding should always be 
done in the evening to guard against robbing. 
If it is desirable to stimulate bees to rapid 
brood-rearing, a small amount should be fed 
daily, and the feeding prolonged till the flowers 
yield honey. If bees have plenty of capped 
stores, brood-rearing can be greatly augmented 
by uncapping a part of the honey and placing it 
back of a division-board. As often as the bees 
restore the honey the operation may be repeated, 
until the bees can gather honey from the flowers. 
